Anyone use TiVo? - Page 2

SteveDallas · 05-07-2003, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
I don't watch much TV because I'm so busy reading the wealth of logic and reason the Cellarites spew.

Now if we had a cookie file, that would be a cookie.

SteveDallas · 05-08-2003, 10:01 AM

Speak of the devil.

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/20..._tv/index.html

vsp · 05-08-2003, 10:07 AM

One minor drawback for me; I'd need to get a phone jack put in somewhere near where my main television is. The closest one in my apartment is all the way across the room by the kitchen, and the cord would cross a hallway.

Likewise, I don't think I can do the dish -- my apartment faces the wrong way. (My father looked into getting DirecTV at his house, but because of heavy tree cover, they couldn't find a direct line to the south-southwest. Well, my apartment faces dead east.)

Jakeline · 05-17-2003, 01:17 AM

We've had Dish Network with the 501 PVR for two years now, and it's excellent. No need to connect to the phone line, no fee except for the normal dish bill. I can search for actors, words in the description, or titles. It isn't as smart as TiVo in that it records timeslots, not specific television shows, but it works great for the most part. They finally added slow motion and frame-by-frame a couple months ago.
(it automatically downloads and installs software upgrades when the receiver is shut off.)

And yes, I never watch live TV anymore. I can't stand having to watch commercials!

SteveDallas · 05-17-2003, 08:01 AM

Glad to hear you've had a good experience, Jakeline. The Dishplayer was great in the beginning, but there were so many problems with it, I got fed up and jumped ship to DirecTV because I had had one too many program that I really wanted to watch erased. It was too early at the time to tell if the 501 & other newer Dish PVR models would be equally bug-ridden, and I didn't feel like waiting to find out. But it's good that they seem to have gotten their act together.

zippyt · 05-17-2003, 10:11 AM

2-3 years ago we got a Direct tv Tivo , my wife never could sync up the sat box and the vcr to grab her soaps , she would put in a tape start it recording then go out , then she would have to FF thru all the junk till she found the show she wanted ,you should have heard all the cussing comeing from the liveing room !!!! We have had direct tv for 8-10 years and have loved it !!!! digital sound and video , the only bummer is when it rains REAL hard the sat signal dropes out ,, butt we keep a few good flicks on the HD
a few points
1) xobruce you don't have to give them your bank account number , and in the set up for the Tivo you can tell the unit NOT to report back to HQ about you likes and dislikes
2) you don't realy need to have them installed , i have done it for us twice ( we moved ) and many outher folks, all you need is a south west shot of the sky ( TAll trees will interfear , but the lbn actualy shoots 30 deg higher than it seems so this can fool you),
3) if you don't have a phone line hooked up it can't up date AND if you have gotten any PPV flicks it will hit you with a BIG charge the next time you do hook up a phone line

zippyt · 05-17-2003, 10:21 AM

Damn those limited posts !!!!!
Since we live in the sticks we can't pick up network tv so we get east coast And west coast net works ,, if some thing big happens ( 911 , etc....) i can catch the news from a Newyork and LA prospective ( aliways different , and if i want a slightly different slant on things i can watch BBC , plus BBC has old monty python on all the time ,, oh and Charlie Dimmoc RULES !!!!), and if you miss something on an east coast network you can watch it on a west coast feed

Undertoad · 05-17-2003, 10:37 AM

I didn't know you could watch west coast feeds from DirecTV. I thought that was something you could only do with the big dishes.

I haven't been thinking about getting a dish, because in Philly, Comcast pulls one on us and only makes Flyers and Sixers games available on their own cable-only channel.

zippyt · 05-17-2003, 11:52 AM

UT , the only way you can get east and west coast feeds is if you can't pick them up with an antenna , we can get ABC so that one is locked out by Direct tv , ( we got a better antenna and can sort of pick up a few different channels but that depends on the weather )
oh and one more note about installing a sat box your self , when you call direct tv to turn it on DO NOT , I repeat DONOT hang up untill you scan channels , regular and any special packages you are ordering (HBO , Skinamax ,Etc..., ) it is instantaniously done from direct tv hq and if you have to call back you have to wade thru all the voice mail dirrectorys and wait for a tech to pick up, etc...
i don't know how direct tv handels local games , i beleve the nfl or nhl may try and block them ?????though i do know that the local cable provider didn't reup witha network when a big Hogs game was comeing on, and didn't bother telling any body about it untill the day of the game ,, you should have seen all the empty satt boxes on the curb all that next week

Undertoad · 05-17-2003, 01:14 PM

Somebody said a few years ago that you could sign up with a friend's address out of town, if you wanted to get blackout games. That address has to get the bills and stuff so it has to be a pretty good friend.

But I think Comcast even blacks out Flyers games if you have the big NHL package with DirecTV and aren't in town. Those greedy bastards.

SteveDallas · 05-17-2003, 03:49 PM

You may know that the reason Comcast gets away with this is that their distribution infrastructure for Comcast SportsNet is completely fiber and terrestrial microwave. The law requiring owners of channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon, etc. to sell to all distributors who want to buy (which is why such channels are not exclusive to cable TV) only deals with channels that are distributed via satellite! The FCC has repeatedly refused to close this loophole, so we're stuck with it till congress decides to change the law--which may happen! As long as it doesn't affect anybody but Philadelphia (and we have the lowest satellite penetration rate of any large metro area) it won't get a lot of attention, but there is a company which is trying to offer completely terrestrial feeds to companies so they can take advantage of this loophole and not sell to the satellite companies. That might attract more attention to it. (For those non-Philadelphians who are not familiar with the situation, Comcast owns the hockey team, the basketball team, the cable tv company, and the channel that has the rights to broadcast the basketball, hockey, and football games.)

I personally decided that my loathing of the cable company was greater than my desire to watch the Sixers (I don't care much for hockey and none at all for baseball) and I've been a happy satellite customer for almost 5 years.

05-17-2003, 10:11 AM	#21
zippyt LONG LIVE KING ZIPPY! per Feetz Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Arkansas Posts: 7,661	2-3 years ago we got a Direct tv Tivo , my wife never could sync up the sat box and the vcr to grab her soaps , she would put in a tape start it recording then go out , then she would have to FF thru all the junk till she found the show she wanted ,you should have heard all the cussing comeing from the liveing room !!!! We have had direct tv for 8-10 years and have loved it !!!! digital sound and video , the only bummer is when it rains REAL hard the sat signal dropes out ,, butt we keep a few good flicks on the HD a few points 1) xobruce you don't have to give them your bank account number , and in the set up for the Tivo you can tell the unit NOT to report back to HQ about you likes and dislikes 2) you don't realy need to have them installed , i have done it for us twice ( we moved ) and many outher folks, all you need is a south west shot of the sky ( TAll trees will interfear , but the lbn actualy shoots 30 deg higher than it seems so this can fool you), 3) if you don't have a phone line hooked up it can't up date AND if you have gotten any PPV flicks it will hit you with a BIG charge the next time you do hook up a phone line __________________ "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. " Brother Dave Gardner

05-17-2003, 10:21 AM	#22
zippyt LONG LIVE KING ZIPPY! per Feetz Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Arkansas Posts: 7,661	Damn those limited posts !!!!! Since we live in the sticks we can't pick up network tv so we get east coast And west coast net works ,, if some thing big happens ( 911 , etc....) i can catch the news from a Newyork and LA prospective ( aliways different , and if i want a slightly different slant on things i can watch BBC , plus BBC has old monty python on all the time ,, oh and Charlie Dimmoc RULES !!!!), and if you miss something on an east coast network you can watch it on a west coast feed __________________ "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. " Brother Dave Gardner

05-17-2003, 11:52 AM	#24
zippyt LONG LIVE KING ZIPPY! per Feetz Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Arkansas Posts: 7,661	UT , the only way you can get east and west coast feeds is if you can't pick them up with an antenna , we can get ABC so that one is locked out by Direct tv , ( we got a better antenna and can sort of pick up a few different channels but that depends on the weather ) oh and one more note about installing a sat box your self , when you call direct tv to turn it on DO NOT , I repeat DONOT hang up untill you scan channels , regular and any special packages you are ordering (HBO , Skinamax ,Etc..., ) it is instantaniously done from direct tv hq and if you have to call back you have to wade thru all the voice mail dirrectorys and wait for a tech to pick up, etc... i don't know how direct tv handels local games , i beleve the nfl or nhl may try and block them ?????though i do know that the local cable provider didn't reup witha network when a big Hogs game was comeing on, and didn't bother telling any body about it untill the day of the game ,, you should have seen all the empty satt boxes on the curb all that next week __________________ "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. " Brother Dave Gardner

05-08-2003, 10:01 AM	#17
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Speak of the devil. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/20..._tv/index.html

05-08-2003, 10:07 AM	#18
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	One minor drawback for me; I'd need to get a phone jack put in somewhere near where my main television is. The closest one in my apartment is all the way across the room by the kitchen, and the cord would cross a hallway. Likewise, I don't think I can do the dish -- my apartment faces the wrong way. (My father looked into getting DirecTV at his house, but because of heavy tree cover, they couldn't find a direct line to the south-southwest. Well, my apartment faces dead east.)

05-17-2003, 01:17 AM	#19
Jakeline Disorderly Orderly Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 54	We've had Dish Network with the 501 PVR for two years now, and it's excellent. No need to connect to the phone line, no fee except for the normal dish bill. I can search for actors, words in the description, or titles. It isn't as smart as TiVo in that it records timeslots, not specific television shows, but it works great for the most part. They finally added slow motion and frame-by-frame a couple months ago. (it automatically downloads and installs software upgrades when the receiver is shut off.) And yes, I never watch live TV anymore. I can't stand having to watch commercials!

05-17-2003, 08:01 AM	#20
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Glad to hear you've had a good experience, Jakeline. The Dishplayer was great in the beginning, but there were so many problems with it, I got fed up and jumped ship to DirecTV because I had had one too many program that I really wanted to watch erased. It was too early at the time to tell if the 501 & other newer Dish PVR models would be equally bug-ridden, and I didn't feel like waiting to find out. But it's good that they seem to have gotten their act together.

05-17-2003, 10:37 AM	#23
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	I didn't know you could watch west coast feeds from DirecTV. I thought that was something you could only do with the big dishes. I haven't been thinking about getting a dish, because in Philly, Comcast pulls one on us and only makes Flyers and Sixers games available on their own cable-only channel.

05-17-2003, 01:14 PM	#25
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Somebody said a few years ago that you could sign up with a friend's address out of town, if you wanted to get blackout games. That address has to get the bills and stuff so it has to be a pretty good friend. But I think Comcast even blacks out Flyers games if you have the big NHL package with DirecTV and aren't in town. Those greedy bastards.

05-17-2003, 03:49 PM	#26
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	You may know that the reason Comcast gets away with this is that their distribution infrastructure for Comcast SportsNet is completely fiber and terrestrial microwave. The law requiring owners of channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon, etc. to sell to all distributors who want to buy (which is why such channels are not exclusive to cable TV) only deals with channels that are distributed via satellite! The FCC has repeatedly refused to close this loophole, so we're stuck with it till congress decides to change the law--which may happen! As long as it doesn't affect anybody but Philadelphia (and we have the lowest satellite penetration rate of any large metro area) it won't get a lot of attention, but there is a company which is trying to offer completely terrestrial feeds to companies so they can take advantage of this loophole and not sell to the satellite companies. That might attract more attention to it. (For those non-Philadelphians who are not familiar with the situation, Comcast owns the hockey team, the basketball team, the cable tv company, and the channel that has the rights to broadcast the basketball, hockey, and football games.) I personally decided that my loathing of the cable company was greater than my desire to watch the Sixers (I don't care much for hockey and none at all for baseball) and I've been a happy satellite customer for almost 5 years.

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